1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of freezing meat including beef, pork, poultry and the like.
2. Prior Art
Conventionally meat is frozen by means of air or brine (antifreeze solution) and cooled by a cooling medium. Another method of freezing meat is by immersing it in liquid nitrogen or liquid carbon dioxide.
However, since the foregoing methods more or less drip a great deal the meat loses weight and the quality of the meat is lowered or flavor deterioration occurs.
The reason for such dripping is believed to be caused by the breakdown of muscle structure of the meat which is caused by ice crystals forming when the meat is frozen. This results in an increase in the salt concentration and has a relationship to the freezing rate.
The above method is disadvantageous in that production costs are higher since the use of liquid nitrogen is costly.
On the other hand, the brine method includes inorganic brine such as calcium chloride and organic brine such as ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, etc. Furthermore, the solution is prepared by mixing them and produces, advantageously, greater cooling at a comparatively lower price.